Happy Friday, gentle readers. I hope you have a restful and enjoyable weekend ahead. Mrs. Brown has engaged the services of a professional to come and give our house a deep cleaning. So in order to make a good impression, I will spend tomorrow tidying the joint up, so that the people coming to clean the house will not think we need to have our house cleaned. First impressions, you know. I also have to make some improvements to our chicken coop while we are between snowstorms. Does anybody want to trade weekends?
It’s shaping up to be one heckuva 2023. Congress has been interesting, to say the least. And then there is the matter of Joe Biden’s secret stash(es), not to mention that Kevin McCarthy wants to release the director’s cut of The January 6th Tapes. Be sure to get the version with the commentary.
From the Lighten Up Department: What’s with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Instagram) and feet? First, she thinks we’re all fixated on her boyfriend’s feet, and she just can’t seem to get her own foot out of her mouth. After our overlords at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission decided that gas stoves would be the thing that triggered the End of the World and the heat-death of the universe, there was of course significant backlash and not a few jokes. AOC was like, totally onboard and claimed that gas stoves were linked to cognitive issues and asthma.
This, of course, signaled the start of the Mockalympics:
AOC viciously mocked for claiming gas stoves linked to brain damage: ‘Is that what happened to you?’ https://t.co/aFz4rWGNTh pic.twitter.com/QFXr3vVoC6
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) January 12, 2023
Then there was this:
Did you know that ongoing exposure to NO2 from gas stoves is linked to reduced cognitive performance https://t.co/1bjmHqnHVa
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 11, 2023
AOC took Ronny Jackson and Matt “Deadpan” Walsh a little too seriously and replied, “I do think it’s funny the absolute, utter Republican meltdown where they’re like ‘you can take my gas stove from my cold dead hands,’ or, ‘how dare you talk about gas stoves, you have a gas stove.’”
And she does:
You have made videos of yourself cooking on a gas stove pic.twitter.com/TWLVgNp4dm
— PoliMath (@politicalmath) January 11, 2023
That one must have left a mark on Congress’s Instagrammer-In-Chief, who fired back with:
First of all, I rent, period. Second of all, it doesn’t even matter. Because, by that logic, these are the same people who would have said we should have never gotten rid of leaded gasoline just because someone may have driven a gasoline car. Science evolves and gives us new knowledge with time. There is very concerning science about some of the emissions from gas stoves, especially around the cognitive development of young children, asthma, cancer, et cetera.
Okay, so you rent. You also make a ton of money and drive a Tesla, for crying out loud. Don’t blame your landlord for this. Go buy a house or three like your colleagues already.
From the Get a Life Department: We all know the trans community doesn’t like J.K. Rowling. The trans community doesn’t like anything that is a definitive gender and does not have fourteen facial studs and green hair. But apparently one of them said, “You know, it’s been a while since we complained about J.K. Rowling. Isn’t it her turn again?”
With that in mind, Toronto bartender and artist Laur Flom began picking up second-hand copies of Harry Potter books, removing Rowling’s name from the copyright pages, and adding new covers of his own design. You can get a single book for $120. For $1,200 he will revamp copies of the entire series. The proceeds go to transgender charities.
Why? He says, “the purpose of this project is to create a safe space for fans to find comfort in the books and critically engage with J.K Rowling’s work.” A safe space from a copyright page. As if Canadians don’t have enough to contend with these days. But who knows how many lives have been saved by removing a copyright page and the author’s name from the cover?
Flom wants to bring to light Rowling’s transphobia. Never mind that Rowling is about as left as you can get, has been a supporter of marginalized people, and has said she has no problem with transgender people. She said men were not women. And for that alone, she got the old “Avada Kedavra” spell. Nice. And then there may be copyright issues. But Rowling already has their money, what does she care?
Wine Recommendation: Because wine can still be affordable and not come out of a box.
Okay, come here… a little closer. This is just between us, right? I’m about to tell you about one of the best-kept secrets in wine: Twisted Cedar. This is a Native-American company out of Lodi, Calif., and is bottled by the Cedar Band of Piutes in Acampo. Twisted Cedar offers an excellent line of red wines and a very good Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio. Pictured below is the Lodi Malbec.
Like any Malbec, this is a very dry wine. But even if you prefer sweeter reds or a Cabernet, you still owe it to yourself to give it a go. You can taste the tannins, but they aren’t very aggressive, giving it just the right amount of zip. You can also enjoy a hint of fruit but can also get the benefits of a spicy peppery taste. While it is a blend of primarily Malbec with dashes of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Verdot, that blend is seamless.
One of the best things about the Twisted Cedar brand is that the company always manages to hit the sweet spot with the oak barrel aging. It retails for around $15 bucks. Availability depends on your location, and they can ship. Plus, you’re supporting a tribal business, and conservatives believe in entrepreneurship.
That’s it for me; have a good weekend and I’ll see you on Monday. I have to go find my dust rag.
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